Berklee today

JAN 2013

Berklee today is the official alumni publication of Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. It is a forum for contemporary music and musicians.

Issue link: http://berkleetoday.epubxp.com/i/106074

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Cho, Jung-hun '99 (aka Cho PD) Kim, Jung-bae '00 Kim, Yeon-jung '99 (aka Kenzie) 16 Berklee today After finishing at Berklee in 2006, Yoonhan returned to Korea, fulfilled his two-year mandatory military service and then launched his career. Representatives from Stomp Music spotted him at a music competition and signed him to a management contract. So far he has released two albums on Stomp's imprint featuring his original vocal songs in English and Korean as well as his jazzy piano stylings. Last year, Yoonhan played the role of Ishmael four nights a week in a musical production of Moby Dick (based on Herman Melville's novel). "It was tough," he says. "I sang, acted, danced, and played piano." The show is a new dramatic form in Korea called an actor-musician musical where cast members perform on stage in all four capacities. Yoonhan is also developing his career as a concert attraction and headlines regularly. Some of his concerts are presented in collaboration with fashion designers. "That's pretty interesting," he says. "It's like a blend of Maroon 5 and Victoria's Secret." Despite having a packed schedule, Yoonhan has carved out time for further education, anticipating that one day he will teach. He is currently finishing Ph.D. studies at Sangmyung University and writing his doctoral thesis on the music of Keith Jarrett. With talents and opportunities that could take him in different directions, Yoonhan will continue with TV for now. "The show is fun," he says. "There are so many more artists I want to work with." He also hopes his concert appearances will take him to audiences in Europe and America. They Write the Songs Kim, Jung-bae '00 and his wife Kim Yeon-jung '99 (aka Kenzie) have penned a number of chart-busting songs for K-pop artists. Kenzie has a coveted position as a staff songwriter for S.M. Entertainment, one of the three major labels in Korea. Together, they have collaborated on many hits for such K-pop idols as Girls' Generation, Super Junior, Shinee, and others. The two met at Berklee and married in Seoul in 2004. "I got to know her when she was an MP&E; major, and I played guitar on a project she was engineering," Jung-bae recalls. "She later asked me if I could write some music for a project." Kenzie is very good at sequencing and making beats, and as it turns out, Jung-bae has a knack for lyric writing. "It's funny," he says. "She's the big songwriter, but if you Google her songs, my name always shows up first because I wrote the lyrics." In addition to collaborating daily with Kenzie, Jung-bae also has a full schedule teaching at Seoul Jazz Academy, Seoul Arts University, and elsewhere and just released Santa Monica, his second jazz-rock instrumental album (available through iTunes). "I teach every day and write on my laptop in between classes," he says. The couple has a unique system for working remotely. "If she needs a chord progression, I'll come up with something and e-mail it to her. Later, I'll play guitar on her demos." Jung-bae attributes the inspiration for much of K-pop music to recordings by the Backstreet Boys, 'NSYNC, Britney Spears. "In Asia, audiences love the dancing and music together. In K-pop, it's all about the show." But Jung-bae notes that there is also much musical variety within the genre. "After all the success Psy has had, we want to show everyone that there are other sides of our music: good melodies, good singers, and good players. I'm hopeful that more attention will come to Korean music and musicians." MP3 Star Power Cho, Jung-hun '99 is widely known as Korea's groundbreaking rap artist Cho PD. (His stage name blends his last name and an abbreviation for the producer role.) After three years as a business major at Parsons College in New York, Cho PD decided to develop his abilities as a singer and drummer and transferred to Berklee. Soon afterward, his career blew up. "After one month at Berklee, a friend of mine helped me upload MP3s of my music to the Internet, and things took off," he says. Cho PD's first song was "Break Free" and its lyrics were shocking to the Korean audience. In 1992, Seo, Taiji was the first artist to introduce rap in Korea. To get radio airplay, Taiji's music conformed to government censorship rules and was far removed from American rap in language and attitude. But, in 1998, Cho PD skirted the censors by offering his songs on the Korean equivalent of America Online rather than through terrestrial radio. In so doing he was able to include expletives in his music, pushing the boundaries. People noticed. "Break Free" took hold after a buzz started in Korean newspapers and TV network news reports. "People were talking about my music," Cho PD says, "that was a good thing. I uploaded eight or nine songs that all became hits." Free, peer-to-peer trading of Cho PD's songs continued until the end of the year. A savvy businessman, Cho PD figured out how to monetize his music. "Everything happened quickly—in three months. A lot of companies wanted to sign me, but I produced my songs and released them myself. I only signed a distribution deal. After that I started my own label." Cho PD gathered other artists to his imprint, with Psy among his first signings. (Psy is now on another label.) Cho PD had a good run as an artist, but found himself aged out of the K-pop demographic by 35. "Last year, doing TV appearances with other K-pop stars, I saw that I was the oldest singer in the studio," he says. ChoPD (who could still pass for a college student), retired from the stage to launch his own production company, Brandnew Stardom Entertainment (now just Stardom Entertaiment). He just built a new recording studio in Seoul and is now the executive producer for a variety of K-pop artists. One of his acts, Black Pea, is currently making waves. Stardom currently has 50 employees and Cho PD is negotiating with Sony Music in Tokyo to break his artists in Japan. "I want to produce good music that is loved by the public, "he says. "I'm looking for real talent in progressive music." Jazz Devotees Jazz pianist Cho, Yoon-seung '00 is more cosmopolitan than many of his peers. Born in Korea, he lived with his family in Buenos Aires, Argentina, during his teen years. Cho's father, Cho, Sang-kook, a touring jazz drummer, moved his family there after playing in the country. Consequently Cho's piano style was shaped by Latin jazz influences and the tutelage of Berklee faculty members Hal Crook and Paul Schmeling as well as Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter. Cho spent two years working with Hancock and Shorter at the Monk Institute after earning his Berklee degree. Cho's impeccable technique, broad stylistic palette, and musicality keep him in demand in Seoul as a sideman for concerts, recordings, and TV appearances. He's a member of Choi, Sung-soo's World Music Ensemble among others, and leads his

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